Politics

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., a senior Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, said he intends to press Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to refine the Basel III capital proposal before it is finalized.

The guidelines from the Fed, FDIC and OCC resemble proposals issued in recent years by each of the agencies, and they do not prohibit any specific activities. But the broadness of the directives and the singling out of climate risk drew criticism from banks and some policymakers.

The move shows Texas governments, major issuers of municipal bonds, are wary of working with banks that state Attorney General Ken Paxton put under review last week in connection with their climate change policies.

The final Community Reinvestment Act rule notably expands the definition of "large" banks to include banks with at least $2 billion of assets, requiring more banks to comply with the updated rules. That expanded scope is a feature, not a bug.

After years of discussion among regulators, the Federal Reserve Board has approved changes to its CRA rules that will base compliance exams on where lending occurs rather than branch locations. The updates — set to take effect in January 2026 — also emphasize lending in lower-income areas as well as community development loans and investments.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's mission is important. That's why Congress needs to have stricter oversight of its actions.

Regulators will now accept feedback until Jan 16, 2024 — a six-week extension — concurrent with a Federal Reserve effort to gather additional information about the potential implications of the proposed capital changes.

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu says the process of determining whether certain lending activities and investments qualify for Community Reinvestment Act credit under regulators' forthcoming final rule "has to be better and it's got to be faster" than the status quo.

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition and the American Bankers Association have sent dueling letters to the Federal Reserve over whether NCRC advocates pressured ABA member banks to denounce the ABA's litigation against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., again pressed the Federal Reserve for economic analysis of capital proposals, while Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., reintroduced a bill that would limit the Fed's ability to extend money to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The Federal Reserve vice chair for supervision says the failure of Silicon Valley Bank showed the shortcomings of the current stress testing regime.

The Department of Justice alleged that Ameris failed to open a single bank branch or provide home loans in minority neighborhoods in Jacksonville, Florida. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that many similar redlining investigations are currently underway.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Section 1071 data collection rule challenge will likely not advance past President Joe Biden's desk, and Republicans don't have the votes to overturn his veto.

The Federal Reserve governor said consumer credit delinquency is returning to pre-pandemic levels, indicating a potential softening of economic activity.

The Federal Reserve, which currently faces a Supreme Court case related to the fees, will vote on a proposal next week that will likely open up a rulemaking process to lower debit card interchange fees. 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office said it's reviewing whether 10 financial companies, including Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, violate a state law that punishes firms for restricting their work with the oil-and-gas industry because of climate-change concerns.

At a Senate Banking subcommittee meeting, Republican and Democratic lawmakers both promoted the mission of community development financial institutions and warned of upcoming threats to their funding and proposals to revamp the CDFI certification process.

Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle Bowman said some limitations and frictions in the payments system are by design and cannot be swept away by tech innovations.

Not only could warehouse lines of credit be impacted by the U.S. version of international Basel rules, and financing secured by mortgage servicing rights may be, too.

Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, is pushing a bill to re-freeze Iranian funds made available after a Biden-negotiated hostage deal last month. Scott says the move is a response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel.